Heretofore, ice making machines utilized a refrigeration system wherein an evaporator coil surrounded a conduit means and a control valve monitored the amount of water flowing to the conduit means. A film of water was displaced to the inner wall of the conduit means and converted to ice as the evaporator coil removed heat from the film of water. Generally, an auger within the conduit means displaced the fluid to the inner conduit means wall. Moreover, as the amount of ice formed on the inner wall increased, the auger when rotated scraped particles of ice from the conduit means. These ice particles were transmitted by the rotating auger in the conduit means to an outlet where the ice was gathered in a receptacle or suitable means.
During the operation of the ice making machine the water source varied in pressure and flow and these variances were communicated to the control valve. In addition, the evaporator coil removed varying amounts of heat from the liquid water depending on the ice built up within the conduit means and the stability of the refrigeration system. Consequently, prior art control valves and pressure regulators were required to compensate for these variances so that excessive water was not supplied to the ice making machine.